How Delicate Is Black Skin?

(FRESNO, CA, USA)

How Delicate Is Black Skin?

I am currently in training to become an Esthetician and I am frustrated anytime people bring up ethnic skin because African Americans are not spoken of like humans but more like wild animals.

Instructors swear that we have no feeling in our skin or scalps and I know this is wrong!

My skin may be dark, but it is very sensitive. How delicate is African American skin?

According to the Fitzpatrick scale we cannot be sensitive yet my dermatologist says I am.


Camille's Answer

You are perfectly right...and sometimes you have to wonder what some of these "experts" are thinking.

Black skin and black hair are possibly the most delicate of all the types. All you have to do is look at yourself or others to see this.

- For some people like myself all you have to do is look at me too hard and I get a dark mark.

- We burn just like every other race and sometimes even worse.

- Black women have the highest rates of hair loss and scalp issues than any other race.

- Black skin is ultra sensitive to certain chemicals that can cause our skin to be either too oily or too dry.

- Our hair "looks" tough and durable but it's the easiest to break off during combing and it's the first to get severely damaged by chemicals and heat styling.

- Many black women struggle with getting their hair to grow to any reasonable length.

- So many black women have resorted to wearing weaves and braids because they have damaged their own hair badly from not taking care of it properly, and worst yet, not knowing how to.

....and I could go on and on.

So yes our skin AND hair are very delicate and should be treated with gentle and tender care.

Don't believe the hype!